By: Jonpaul Dagostino
BROCKPORT, N.Y. --- The Brockport Golden Eagles women’s soccer team took down the Elmira Soaring Eagles at home in the Empire 8 quarterfinals on Saturday. The one seed Golden Eagles put up an all-around strong performance and won 1-0, advancing to the next round.
15 minutes into the second half tied in a 0-0 stalemate, Brockport and Elmira traded shots and possessions, however neither side scored. Brockport's Caitlin Nelson took a corner kick, passing it to her teammate, Brockport forward/midfielder Jaylah Cossin. With the ball in her possession, Cossin took the shot and ended up taking what would be the game's only score to give Brockport a 1-0 lead.
“I was playing out on the wing, so I was making a run in, and the cross was coming so I just wanted to be there," Cossin said. "Just in case anything got deflected out and it ended up deflecting down, and I just headed in.”
Brockport set the tone in the first half for how the rest of the game would go, taking a strong defensive identity, and not allowing any shots in the half.
"We just have the mentality that, we've been winning for a reason, and everything we do in practice, we all collectively have amazing chemistry," senior Kellie Gentile said. "And our camaraderie is amazing. We all play for each other, and I think that's what makes us so good."
The second half followed the theme of the first for Brockport, with the Golden Eagles not allowing any goals. Brockport's only shot attempt against them came roughly 22 minutes into the second half, quickly saved by goalie Madeline McCrosson. Brockport continued to outpace Elmira on offense, having 12 more shot attempts in the second half.
"They essentially put 11 players in deep, you know, in their own third and sort of challenged us to be able to find ways to make changes with them... it's a unique challenge for the team to face," Brockport head coach Mike Idland said.
Brockport will look to build on their season's success as they advanced to host the Empire 8 semifinals. Their opponent for that game will be number four seeded Nazareth University.
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